Fontem Ventures Welcomes New Survey into Teenage E-cigarette Use

Tuesday 18 August 2015

Fontem Ventures today welcomed Action on Smoking and Health’s Smokefree GB Youth Survey, which sheds light on current e-cigarette use among teenagers.

“As a leading manufacturer of e-cigarettes, Fontem Ventures advocates and supports legislation to prohibit the sale of electronic vaping products to minors,” said Marc Michelsen Director Corporate Affairs. “That’s because we believe vaping products are an adult only category and, as such, teenagers should not be accessing them at all. We do however, acknowledge the importance of continuous monitoring in this area and therefore welcome this research.”

The survey, which was published in the journal Public Health, found that the overwhelming majority of 11 to 18 year olds who are experimenting with e-cigarettes are current tobacco smokers. Further, in 2014, smoking rates among youth fell to an all time low of 3 percent.

“Importantly, this latest study supports the conclusions of many others before it – that electronic vaping products are not acting as a gateway to smoking and most certainly, are not normalising tobacco products,” said Michelsen. “We therefore urge governments around the UK to continue striking the right regulatory balance to ensure consumers are protected by high manufacturing standards and quality-driven information, while, at the same time, ensuring adult smokers are not unnecessarily deterred from switching to EVPs as they seek alternatives to tobacco.”